1. Field of the Invention
This invention relates to face tracking. More specifically, this invention relates to tracking of multiple faces in a digital video sequence.
2. Description of Related Art
Face tracking methods have potential applications in a wide range of fields including human-computer interaction, computer-assisted communication, and content-directed video encoding. However, many existing face tracking systems make simplifying assumptions about image context or content which may not be appropriate. For example, a system may assume that only one face will appear in a video frame. While this assumption may be reasonable for applications such as a single-player video game, it may not be appropriate for other applications such as video conferencing or encoding of video content for broadcast.
It is desirable to obtain automatic tracking of possibly multiple faces at a high accuracy and a low false alarm rate. It is also desirable to perform such a task while minimizing processor load, thereby allowing other tasks to be performed concurrently.